Corporate

Kennedy excited for 10-year anniversary match

Newcastle Jets goalkeeper Ben Kennedy is hoping to see a strong turnout of Jets Members and supporters at Hunter Stadium this Friday night for the Club's 10-year anniversary match against Adelaide United.

Newcastle are looking for their first clean sheet of the season and will face a difficult test against an attacking-minded Adelaide United.

The Jets will be without captain and centre-back, Kew Jaliens, who will miss the game through suspension.

Kennedy maintains his side is full of belief heading into this weekend, and are continuing to work as hard as ever as they look to turn some recent positive performances into results.

“Kew’s a big loss for us, he’s our captain,” said Kennedy

“Obviously we haven’t had a clean sheet this year, but its something we all want to do and we’re working hard to from the defense right through to the attack.

“It’s something we’ve focused on…as we know we have to improve and obviously it’s going to be a loss with Kew out, but we’re confident anyone who comes in can do a job and get us a clean sheet.”

Kennedy is the Jets’ longest serving player, and has fond memories of this fixture, being a train-on member of the squad that played against Adelaide United during the A-League’s inaugural weekend ten years ago.

“I still remember it like it was yesterday,” said Kennedy

“I was with my old man actually…against Adelaide from memory and we went down 1-0, so hopefully with it being the 10-year anniversary game we can get a win to reverse that piece of history.”

Kennedy has seen his team and the league evolve from that night and has spoken of the huge growth of football in Australia since then.

“Its completely different now, a lot more professional, all the clubs have improved a great deal and you only have to look at the quality of the players we’ve got in the league now," Kennedy said.

“The league’s come a long way and it’s continuing to improve every year, so it’s exciting times for football in Australia and I think over the next few years we will just continue to grow.”